Former star Nemani Nadolo is warning the rugby world the Flying Fijians are developing a giant forward who eclipses Wallaby behemoth Will Skelton and predicts the Pacific Islands nation will reach the 2027 Rugby World Cup semi-finals in Australia.
Nadolo has joined the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua coaching staff as Development Coach, which means he is now mentoring 22-year-old Jeneiro Wakeham, who stands nearly 7ft tall and weighs 22.3 stone (141kg).
Wakeham spent three years as a teenager in the Stade Français academy and last year entered the National Football League (NFL) International Player Pathway but has now returned to rugby.
Test wing Nadolo terrorised world rugby defences thanks to a 6ft 5ins, 21st physique and the ability to run near 11 seconds for the 100m, but even he is put into the shade by Wakeham, whose major problem is finding size 16 boots.
“It would be great to find someone who could supply boots that size,” said 37-year-old Nadolo.
“This guy is so big I have to look up to him and he is also really quick for a massive man.”
“He is a lock and I see a lot of Will Skelton (6ft 8ins, 22st) in him and I wouldn’t like to test the waters in terms of contact work with him. He is a very big boy and has worked really hard, having come in at 24.5 stone (156kg) and he is now close to his playing weight. After Stade he did some time in American football and now he is back in rugby with us.
“I believe it will be a stronger Fiji team by the time the 2027 World Cup comes along and we can go one better than the last Cup and reach the semi-finals.
“We have a good chance of winning against England but a lot of what is being done is building to the next World Cup.
“Having been coached by Steve Borthwick at Leicester, I am sure he will be reminding the England players about what happened the last time they played Fiji at Twickenham (Fiji won 30-22 in 2023) with pictures of Joshua Tuisova and Bill Mata around the team room this week.”
Nadolo is a Flying Fijians legend, playing 30 Test matches and scoring 242 points, and is the joint second-highest try scorer in the national team’s history with 21 tries. In the Super Rugby Pacific tournament, he made 39 appearances and scored 27 tries for the Crusaders and was a big hit with Montpellier and Leicester Tigers.
However, he also had tough times, including a short stay at Exeter which saw him convicted of drink driving. He returned to Brisbane and was ready to quit the sport in 2011 and work in the mines in Northern Queensland when his career was revived with a deal to play for the NEC Green Rockets in Japan.
It is those experiences that Nadolo will use to help steer his Drua development players away from trouble and said: “It’s a privilege to be part of the Drua, and the unique thing is that we have a pathway for our guys, and the team working with me have to mentor these kids on and off the pitch.
“A lot of them come from villages, some of them didn’t have a phone until last week, and what we take for granted is new for them.
“A lot will be based around my experiences playing rugby around the world along with senior guys who have played all their rugby abroad.
“I can lean on those players and coaches because we want these young guys to have successful careers with the Drua and also go on to play overseas and for the Flying Fijians if they get that opportunity.”
“It is a really exciting time and I wish this had been around when I started playing but it wasn’t the case.
“People have to realise that professional sport is new on the Islands and we are probably at the stage where rugby was in 1996 after going professional in terms of how new it is, and it won’t be a quick fix.
“We are four or five years in now and Mark Evans (Drua CEO) has led from the front and I am very grateful to get the green light on how to make it better.
“Mark has shown faith in me to get this development role into where it should be, turning these boys into men. I also get to help out with the senior squad with the back three players and I really think it’s the best job in the world.
“Our natural talent has taken us so far and we are naturally athletic and gifted. There are things you wouldn’t see anywhere else in the world in terms of flair and the skills we have.
“However, the way the modern game is going you also need the infrastructure and resources, and I look at the Drua facilities and to have that on the Islands means the guys have everything they need to be a very successful franchise.
“We need to now incorporate professionalism and discipline because a lot of the guys come from nothing and rugby is a way of supporting their families, and now you don’t have to go to France, England, Japan, New Zealand or Australia to play, and it’s a blessing and a curse at the same time.
“It can be a curse because with this great set-up the younger guys can become complacent and be comfortable, and we have to remind them they are in a privileged position and that starts with my role. There are things I have put in place to learn life skills and realise they have the best job.”
Last year the Fiji rugby league set-up sent 100 players to Australia to continue their league careers and hope to make that number 200 by the end of 2025, and keeping hold of talented players on the Islands remains a real battle. Nadolo acknowledges the ability to provide for your family through your rugby skills is a fact of Fijian life.
“You cannot control that sort of stuff and for years Australia and New Zealand have come and taken young players, and we say good on them because it is a chance to give their families a better life.
“But we are turning out raw talent and I have been here for four months now and the stuff I see playing touch is crazy. I saw one guy playing in welly boots and he was stepping everyone, and we certainly don’t lack for talent.
“For me, the biggest thing I want to teach these guys is perseverance and if I had my way I would have been a one-club man but it wasn’t to be.
“I hopscotched around the world and had some troubling times in Bourgoin and Exeter and good times with the Crusaders, Montpellier and Leicester, and my message to the guys is to enjoy what is happening now — not next year.
“I want to know what makes my players tick, and at Montpellier, Leicester and the Crusaders, they got the best out of me because they got to know me as a person rather than a rugby player.
“There are a lot of life lessons out of my career that I want to drive with the development squad. We always love getting up early to see the Flying Fijians and it’s awesome. England are red hot and tamed the Wallabies and they are going to be very strong, but you cannot take away our Fijian flair.
“There are a lot more of the French-based players in this squad and to have a chance of going toe to toe with England we need to be physical but also disciplined.”
Jeneiro Wakeham. Picture: RUGBYPASS
